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Delta

Because of the severe winter in the Gunnison Basin, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has put a special regulation in place that prohibits shed antler collecting until May 15. Under established regulations, collecting is usually allowed to start on March 15.

In January, Dana Wilson was named the new associate district manager for the Bureau of Land Management's Southwest District, based out of the Montrose Public Lands Center. The Southwest District includes about 2.6 million acres of BLM lands within the Grand Junction, Uncompahgre and Tres Rios Field Offices.

Recent media reports have placed Delta County Memorial Hospital on the "critical condition" list, but CEO Jason Cleckler says the hospital is in no danger of closing.

In January, Steven Summer, president and CEO of the Colorado Hospital Association, was quoted in the Denver Post, saying as many as eight Colorado hospitals "could have sustainability problems" if the Affordable Care Act is repealed without a similar replacement.

Last week saw a gathering of about 40 people representing entities that are working on the front lines of behavioral and mental health issues in Delta County. Law enforcement, health and human services, advocacy groups, mental health, the hospital, the school district and others all had a seat at the table to start discussion on how to integrate services to deal with complex, cross-system needs of those in our community dealing with mental and behavioral health issues.

For the second year in a row, Devil's Thumb Golf Club has been ranked third in the category "Best Western Slope Course." The recognition comes from Colorado Avid Golfer, which determines the winners of the awards known as CAGGYs through an online voting process.

On the morning of March 3, law enforcement officers from the Delta Police Department, Delta County Sheriff's Office and the Colorado Department of Corrections (Parole) conducted a home visit at the residence of Alexander Fultz, 22, at 208 E. 5th Street in the City of Delta. During the visit and subsequent investigation, a handgun, ammunition, suspected heroin, suspected marijuana, explosive components and drug paraphernalia were located inside the residence.

The Colorado River District has announced that it is making $1.8 million available to qualifying agricultural producers for planning and implementation of irrigation efficiency improvement projects that address identified resource concerns in the Lower Gunnison Basin. Landowners within the Bostwick Park, Paonia, Smith Fork and Uncompahgre project areas will be considered for grant funding.

A grant application that would have funded an addition to Delta Middle School did not receive priority from the Colorado Department of Education, but has been placed in the "backup" category.

Delta County Joint School District #50 submitted an application for a Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) grant in the amount of $11.3 million, pledging a matching contribution of $3.4 million for the Delta Middle School project.

Some details of the conceptual access control plan (ACP) along Highway 92 on Rogers Mesa were sketched out for county commissioners at a Monday, March 6, presentation. As the project moves forward, public participation will be a key element, officials said.

For years, on the first and 15th of every month, Delta County Libraries administrative staff has gathered bills, organized payroll and arranged vouchers to deliver to the home office of bookkeeper Emma Neil. "Inevitably, we could look forward to a phone call a couple hours after we left our bills with Emma," laughs district director Lea Hart.

The Delta County Assessor reminds all persons owning, possessing or controlling taxable personal property (furnishings, equipment and other movable personal property) that the deadline for filing a Personal Property Declaration Schedule is April 17.

Rod Fraser and 26 other elite drivers from Colorado have been inducted into UPS' prestigious "Circle of Honor." Every year, the Atlanta-based company recognizes UPS employees who have delivered packages for a quarter of a century without an accident.

A conceptual overview of the process that will eventually produce a highway access control plan (ACP) for Highway 92 across Rogers Mesa was presented at the county commissioners' meeting on Monday, March 6.

Stolfus and Associates, the traffic engineering firm that last year completed a highway access plan for the Highway 50/92 corridor at Delta, will be working on the access plan for the Highway 92 corridor from Hidden Springs to the grade crossing just west of Hotchkiss.

The Colorado Energy Office (CEO), in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service, has released $750,000 in project assistance funds through the USDA Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). The funding is available to Colorado agricultural irrigators, dairies, greenhouses, nurseries and cold storage facilities. The deadline to apply is March 31.

United Country Real Estate is not only one of the largest land brokerages internationally, but it is also one of the largest real estate and personal property auction companies in the world, with over $1 billion in auction sales in 2016. United Country has 431 offices nationwide, with 329 auctioneers working out of 177 auction-centric offices.

Opinion

The Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule that was issued by the Obama Administration was one of the most onerous federal water and land grabs in history -- it undermined state water law and priority-based systems, inserted federal control over western water rights, and put decisions about our water in the hands of Washington bureaucrats.

Since the OPEC oil embargo in the 1970s, America's energy policy has appropriately (though ineffectively) been focused on energy independence for decades. Now, with the fracking boom providing abundant natural gas (NG) resources plus some oil on top of it, the United States finally has the opportunity to, if not completely achieve, come close to achieving energy independence.

I have two, no three reactions, to the article "Timeline details marijuana votes and regulations" by Matt Soper (DCI, March 1). First the majority of the article is correct as it relates to the timeline of events and what occurred.

I am writing to ask you to withdraw your co-sponsorship and support for HR 167, Stopping EPA Overreach Act of 2017, and instead concentrate your efforts on stopping global warming by bringing renewable, non-polluting sources of energy online as quickly as possible.

Sports

The first quarter start wasn't fantastic, but the No. 14 Bruins led 10-8 at quarter's end. A pair of three-balls, one from Hailey Henrie and another from Makayla Mckinney, helped achieve the short-lived lead for the Bruins.

Delta's Ethan Keller, second from right, signed to attend Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Neb. Keller will be working toward a culinary diploma while attending school and is expected to see plenty of baseball action for the Hawks in their inaugural baseball season.

Five Delta County wrestlers were recently named to the Colorado High School Activities Association All-State wrestling team. From Paonia, senior heavyweight Trevor Smith received Class 2A First Team honors, and Sackett Chesnik (138) was named All-State Second Team.

Paonia girls head basketball coach Scott Rienks has one of the most athletic teams of his career. The Eagles were league and district champions, and last weekend they won their 22nd consecutive game of the season to qualify for this week's final 8 state tournament.

Colton Godwin is about to become a Grizzly. Last Friday the Paonia senior signed to play soccer at Adams State University in Alamosa, which competes in the NCAA Division II Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Godwin plans to study business marketing after taking a business class this year with Brent McRae.

What's Happening

The 24th annual Telluride Blues & Brews Festival will once again take over the world-famous mountain town of Telluride Sept. 15-17. Nestled in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, the festival boasts three days of music, comedy, craft beer, yoga, art and entertainment in the iconic Telluride Town Park set against a backdrop of stunning 13,000-ft mountain peaks.

Grace Community Church of Crawford will celebrate its first public worship at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, March 12, at Crawford Town Hall. Pastor Jeff Peed, his wife Jennifer and their four children have moved to Crawford, called by God to plant a church.

Community

Freddie and Heather Hotz of Cedaredge are the parents of a son, Dominic Michael Hotz, born Feb. 24, 2017, at Delta County Memorial Hospital. He weighed 7 pounds, 0.2 ounces and was 19 inches in length.

Delta County 4-H'ers served approximately 3,109 dinners at their 67th annual 4-H Beef Roast Sunday, March 5. The annual fundraising activity served 720 meals at Hotchkiss High and 2,389 at Delta Middle School.

School Zone

The Pinnacol Foundation is accepting applications for the 2017-2018 school year. The foundation provides scholarships to children whose parents have been injured or killed in work-related accidents, regardless of insurance carrier. The application deadline is April 15.

North Fork

After another long discussion over the state of the water fund by Crawford trustees, and after a handful of constituents spoke out against the proposed increase to the water rates during a public hearing, trustees approved a modified plan last week, with the promise to keep working on making the water fund more solvent.

Citing an increased workload, trustees for the Town of Crawford voted last week to increase the town clerk's hours from part time to full time. The office will be open Monday - Friday from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m., starting in two weeks after clerk Cally Gallegos gives notice to her second employer.

T N T Angus, Hotchkiss, recently enrolled in the American Angus Association®'s MaternalPlus® program as a commitment to making genetic improvements in lifetime cow herd productivity. Breeders participating in MaternalPlus are keenly focused to better evaluate herd reproductive performance, the number one profit driver in the cow-calf industry.

More than 60 business owners from across the Western Slope have submitted a letter to senators Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner urging support for keeping the Bureau of Land Management's Methane and Waste Prevention Rule in place.

At the Feb. 28 board meeting, Paonia trustees passed a resolution endorsing the submittal of a full application for participation in the statewide Space to Create program. Space to Create is a state-led initiative aimed at creating work spaces and affordable housing for a broad range of artists and related businesses.

Beef producer Hugh Sanburg of Eckert has been elected to serve on the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion & Research Board Operating Committee. The election took place in early February during CBB's annual meeting in Nashville, Tennessee.

TDS Telecommunication Corp (TDS®) customers in the town of Cedaredge have faster broadband speeds with the recent launch of up to 50Mbps internet speed.

"For households that demand lots of internet, 50Mbps offers enough bandwidth for delay-free downloads and uploads of speed of 1.5 to 10Mbps," said Shane West, vice president of marketing and product development for TDS.

The Orchard City Town Board at its Wednesday, March 8, meeting will act on a proposal which, if adopted, would double residential water rates.

For example, based on preliminary figures provided to the Delta County Independent, the monthly base charge in-town would rise from $13 to $25, and the use rate for the first 20,000 gallons would rise from $0.99 per thousand gallons to $1.89 per thousand gallons.